Crisis Core: The Female SOLDIER

13

Sera's eyes widened at the implied order. Zack looked horrified. "And you want us to do it?!"

"No. The Shinra army will handle it." Lazard informed them.

"What about us?"

"They don't trust either of you. Especially you, Zack."

"They believe your emotions will hamper your judgment." Sephiroth spoke as he walked across the room and Zack slammed his hands on Lazard's desk as he said, "Well, of course!"

Sephiroth turned to his student "As for you, Sera. While you've never let your emotions control you, your long time standing with the both of them may cause you to hesitate." Sera looked down, not denying it as she knew it to be true. Along with Sephiroth, those two were like family to her! They raised her to be the person she was today! She could never bring herself to kill them.

And Sephiroth knew that.

"That's why I'm going, too."

Sera snapped her head up to her mentor, surprise, and horror filling her at his words as Zack slowly turned to him. "To kill them?"

They just stared at each other, Sephiroth not saying anything and Sera looked between her partner and her mentor. Hoping to stop it before a fight could start, she opened her mouth to speak, when an explosion was heard and flashing red lights filled the office as an alarm went off.

"An intruder!" Lazard yelled as the shutters slid close over the windows, and the files on the bookshelves.

"Where?" Zack demanded.

"Close. Sephiroth, the president!" Sephiroth nodded. "Zack, Sera, the entrance!"

"Yeah, you got it!" Zack replied as Sera nodded and the three SOLDIER members made hurried off to their given locations. When the two of them got off the elevator at the entrance level, they ran forward only to be halted in their tracks at the sight of the severe damage and the enemy that was causing them.

"Why are Shinra weapons attacking the Shinra Building?!" Zack cried out in confusion, seeing the robot weapons with the company's logo on them shooting down the infantrymen and they both recognized the Genesis copies when they appeared next to the machines.

'Is Genesis responsible for this?' Sera thought as the two of them drew their weapons, rushing forward to take down the copies and robots in front of them when more and more of them appeared from the opening by the wall. "Damn! They're everywhere!" Zack cursed as the both of them continued to attack, Sera shooting them down with her magic and gunfire as Zack cut them down with his sword.

When they had finally taken down all of them, they heard footsteps approaching and both Sera and Zack looked behind them to see Sephiroth walking towards them.

"Sephiroth!" Zack called out and Sephiroth turned to him. "The intruders are Genesis copies, along with weapons that belonged to Shinra."

"They've been reprogrammed," Sera added.

"Hollander must be behind this," Sephiroth deduced.

"So it's been confirmed? Someone from the Science Research Division was taken as well?" Sephiroth nodded to his student.

"Who's Hollander?" Zack asked.

"A Shinra scientist who was reported to have vanished after lifting the copy technology." Sera's mentor answered.

"Are you saying that this Hollander and Genesis are working together?"

"Perhaps."

Zack folded his arms together as a thoughtful look entered his features. "What is it that they're after...?"

"Hollander lost his bid for the leadership of the Science Division." Sephiroth began. "He has borne a grudge against Shinra ever since. Revenge is most likely his objective."

"That's just petty," Sera silently agreed with Zack. "Are you telling me that Genesis is supporting that idiotic cause?"

Sephiroth hung his head and Sera stared worriedly at her mentor. "I would prefer not to believe it, but..."

"Then don't," Sera spoke up and Sephiroth turned to her. "He might envy you, but Genesis still sees you as his friend. I doubt he would stoop so low as to commit to revenge for something like that. We both know him too well to see him doing that. There must be more to it."

Both mentor and student stared at each for a moment, before his eyes softened slightly. "Very well, I won't." 

'I don't believe Genesis would stoop so low as to take revenge just because Sephiroth was seen as the hero instead of him. It's beneath him,' Sera thought. 'But something must be pushing him to work together with Hollander. Genesis doesn't even like scientists.'

'Does it have to do with his transformation? Angeal said that he and Genesis are the same, that means, he has the wing as well. Did Hollander have something to do with this? Is that why he teamed up with him?' There were just too many questions and not enough answers.

"Sera." Her head snapped up at her mentor's voice and she turned to see Sephiroth and Zack standing at the opening in the wall, looking at her. "Were you listening?"

"I'm sorry, no," Sera admitted, face apologetic as she quickly headed towards them. "Could you repeat that?"

Sephiroth sighed and she felt even more so. "I said, Genesis copies have been sighted at Sector 8 as well. We are to go there and take them out."

"Yes, sir."